MQL4 and MQL5 Programming Articles

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Study the MQL5 language for programming trading strategies in numerous published articles mostly written by you - the community members. The articles are grouped into categories to help you quicker find answers to any questions related to programming: Integration, Tester, Trading Strategies, etc.

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Developing a Replay System — Market simulation (Part 18): Ticks and more ticks (II)

Developing a Replay System — Market simulation (Part 18): Ticks and more ticks (II)

Obviously the current metrics are very far from the ideal time for creating a 1-minute bar. That's the first thing we are going to fix. Fixing the synchronization problem is not difficult. This may seem hard, but it's actually quite simple. We did not make the required correction in the previous article since its purpose was to explain how to transfer the tick data that was used to create the 1-minute bars on the chart into the Market Watch window.
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Developing a multi-currency Expert Advisor (Part 10): Creating objects from a string

Developing a multi-currency Expert Advisor (Part 10): Creating objects from a string

The EA development plan includes several stages with intermediate results being saved in the database. They can only be retrieved from there again as strings or numbers, not objects. So we need a way to recreate the desired objects in the EA from the strings read from the database.
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Neural networks made easy (Part 79): Feature Aggregated Queries (FAQ) in the context of state

Neural networks made easy (Part 79): Feature Aggregated Queries (FAQ) in the context of state

In the previous article, we got acquainted with one of the methods for detecting objects in an image. However, processing a static image is somewhat different from working with dynamic time series, such as the dynamics of the prices we analyze. In this article, we will consider the method of detecting objects in video, which is somewhat closer to the problem we are solving.
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Automating Trading Strategies in MQL5 (Part 23): Zone Recovery with Trailing and Basket Logic

Automating Trading Strategies in MQL5 (Part 23): Zone Recovery with Trailing and Basket Logic

In this article, we enhance our Zone Recovery System by introducing trailing stops and multi-basket trading capabilities. We explore how the improved architecture uses dynamic trailing stops to lock in profits and a basket management system to handle multiple trade signals efficiently. Through implementation and backtesting, we demonstrate a more robust trading system tailored for adaptive market performance.
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Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) for Synthetic Data in Financial Modeling (Part 1): Introduction to GANs and Synthetic Data in Financial Modeling

Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) for Synthetic Data in Financial Modeling (Part 1): Introduction to GANs and Synthetic Data in Financial Modeling

This article introduces traders to Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) for generating Synthetic Financial data, addressing data limitations in model training. It covers GAN basics, python and MQL5 code implementations, and practical applications in finance, empowering traders to enhance model accuracy and robustness through synthetic data.
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Example of Stochastic Optimization and Optimal Control

Example of Stochastic Optimization and Optimal Control

This Expert Advisor, named SMOC (likely standing for Stochastic Model Optimal Control), is a simple example of an advanced algorithmic trading system for MetaTrader 5. It uses a combination of technical indicators, model predictive control, and dynamic risk management to make trading decisions. The EA incorporates adaptive parameters, volatility-based position sizing, and trend analysis to optimize its performance across varying market conditions.
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Neural Networks Made Easy (Part 91): Frequency Domain Forecasting (FreDF)

Neural Networks Made Easy (Part 91): Frequency Domain Forecasting (FreDF)

We continue to explore the analysis and forecasting of time series in the frequency domain. In this article, we will get acquainted with a new method to forecast data in the frequency domain, which can be added to many of the algorithms we have studied previously.
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Connexus Helper (Part 5): HTTP Methods and Status Codes

Connexus Helper (Part 5): HTTP Methods and Status Codes

In this article, we will understand HTTP methods and status codes, two very important pieces of communication between client and server on the web. Understanding what each method does gives you the control to make requests more precisely, informing the server what action you want to perform and making it more efficient.
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Formulating Dynamic Multi-Pair EA (Part 2): Portfolio Diversification and Optimization

Formulating Dynamic Multi-Pair EA (Part 2): Portfolio Diversification and Optimization

Portfolio Diversification and Optimization strategically spreads investments across multiple assets to minimize risk while selecting the ideal asset mix to maximize returns based on risk-adjusted performance metrics.
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Developing a Replay System (Part 73): An Unusual Communication (II)

Developing a Replay System (Part 73): An Unusual Communication (II)

In this article, we will look at how to transmit information in real time between the indicator and the service, and also understand why problems may arise when changing the timeframe and how to solve them. As a bonus, you will get access to the latest version of the replay /simulation app.
Idleness is the Stimulus to Progress, or How to Work with Graphics Interacively
Idleness is the Stimulus to Progress, or How to Work with Graphics Interacively

Idleness is the Stimulus to Progress, or How to Work with Graphics Interacively

An indicator for interactive working with trend lines, Fibo levels, icons manually imposed on a chart. It allows you to draw the colored zones of Fibo levels, shows the moments of the price crossing the trend line, manages the "Price label" object.
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Developing a Replay System (Part 49): Things Get Complicated (I)

Developing a Replay System (Part 49): Things Get Complicated (I)

In this article, we'll complicate things a little. Using what was shown in the previous articles, we will start to open up the template file so that the user can use their own template. However, I will be making changes gradually, as I will also be refining the indicator to reduce the load on MetaTrader 5.
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Neural Networks Made Easy (Part 81): Context-Guided Motion Analysis (CCMR)

Neural Networks Made Easy (Part 81): Context-Guided Motion Analysis (CCMR)

In previous works, we always assessed the current state of the environment. At the same time, the dynamics of changes in indicators always remained "behind the scenes". In this article I want to introduce you to an algorithm that allows you to evaluate the direct change in data between 2 successive environmental states.
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Neural Networks in Trading: Hyperbolic Latent Diffusion Model (Final Part)

Neural Networks in Trading: Hyperbolic Latent Diffusion Model (Final Part)

The use of anisotropic diffusion processes for encoding the initial data in a hyperbolic latent space, as proposed in the HypDIff framework, assists in preserving the topological features of the current market situation and improves the quality of its analysis. In the previous article, we started implementing the proposed approaches using MQL5. Today we will continue the work we started and will bring it to its logical conclusion.
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Category Theory in MQL5 (Part 6): Monomorphic Pull-Backs and Epimorphic Push-Outs

Category Theory in MQL5 (Part 6): Monomorphic Pull-Backs and Epimorphic Push-Outs

Category Theory is a diverse and expanding branch of Mathematics which is only recently getting some coverage in the MQL5 community. These series of articles look to explore and examine some of its concepts & axioms with the overall goal of establishing an open library that provides insight while also hopefully furthering the use of this remarkable field in Traders' strategy development.
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Time series clustering in causal inference

Time series clustering in causal inference

Clustering algorithms in machine learning are important unsupervised learning algorithms that can divide the original data into groups with similar observations. By using these groups, you can analyze the market for a specific cluster, search for the most stable clusters using new data, and make causal inferences. The article proposes an original method for time series clustering in Python.
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MQL5 Wizard Techniques you should know (Part 27): Moving Averages and the Angle of Attack

MQL5 Wizard Techniques you should know (Part 27): Moving Averages and the Angle of Attack

The Angle of Attack is an often-quoted metric whose steepness is understood to strongly correlate with the strength of a prevailing trend. We look at how it is commonly used and understood and examine if there are changes that could be introduced in how it's measured for the benefit of a trade system that puts it in use.
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Chemical reaction optimization (CRO) algorithm (Part II): Assembling and results

Chemical reaction optimization (CRO) algorithm (Part II): Assembling and results

In the second part, we will collect chemical operators into a single algorithm and present a detailed analysis of its results. Let's find out how the Chemical reaction optimization (CRO) method copes with solving complex problems on test functions.
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Creating a Trading Administrator Panel in MQL5 (Part VI):Trade Management Panel (II)

Creating a Trading Administrator Panel in MQL5 (Part VI):Trade Management Panel (II)

In this article, we enhance the Trade Management Panel of our multi-functional Admin Panel. We introduce a powerful helper function that simplifies the code, improving readability, maintainability, and efficiency. We will also demonstrate how to seamlessly integrate additional buttons and enhance the interface to handle a wider range of trading tasks. Whether managing positions, adjusting orders, or simplifying user interactions, this guide will help you develop a robust, user-friendly Trade Management Panel.
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Developing a Replay System — Market simulation (Part 16): New class system

Developing a Replay System — Market simulation (Part 16): New class system

We need to organize our work better. The code is growing, and if this is not done now, then it will become impossible. Let's divide and conquer. MQL5 allows the use of classes which will assist in implementing this task, but for this we need to have some knowledge about classes. Probably the thing that confuses beginners the most is inheritance. In this article, we will look at how to use these mechanisms in a practical and simple way.
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Data label for time series mining (Part 6):Apply and Test in EA Using ONNX

Data label for time series mining (Part 6):Apply and Test in EA Using ONNX

This series of articles introduces several time series labeling methods, which can create data that meets most artificial intelligence models, and targeted data labeling according to needs can make the trained artificial intelligence model more in line with the expected design, improve the accuracy of our model, and even help the model make a qualitative leap!
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Portfolio Risk Model using Kelly Criterion and Monte Carlo Simulation

Portfolio Risk Model using Kelly Criterion and Monte Carlo Simulation

For decades, traders have been using the Kelly Criterion formula to determine the optimal proportion of capital to allocate to an investment or bet to maximize long-term growth while minimizing the risk of ruin. However, blindly following Kelly Criterion using the result of a single backtest is often dangerous for individual traders, as in live trading, trading edge diminishes over time, and past performance is no predictor of future result. In this article, I will present a realistic approach to applying the Kelly Criterion for one or more EA's risk allocation in MetaTrader 5, incorporating Monte Carlo simulation results from Python.
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Artificial Cooperative Search (ACS) algorithm

Artificial Cooperative Search (ACS) algorithm

Artificial Cooperative Search (ACS) is an innovative method using a binary matrix and multiple dynamic populations based on mutualistic relationships and cooperation to find optimal solutions quickly and accurately. ACS unique approach to predators and prey enables it to achieve excellent results in numerical optimization problems.
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Developing a Replay System — Market simulation (Part 07): First improvements (II)

Developing a Replay System — Market simulation (Part 07): First improvements (II)

In the previous article, we made some fixes and added tests to our replication system to ensure the best possible stability. We also started creating and using a configuration file for this system.
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The case for using a Composite Data Set this Q4 in weighing SPDR XLY's next performance

The case for using a Composite Data Set this Q4 in weighing SPDR XLY's next performance

We consider XLY, SPDR’s consumer discretionary spending ETF and see if with tools in MetaTrader’s IDE we can sift through an array of data sets in selecting what could work with a forecasting model with a forward outlook of not more than a year.
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Neural Networks in Trading: Directional Diffusion Models (DDM)

Neural Networks in Trading: Directional Diffusion Models (DDM)

In this article, we discuss Directional Diffusion Models that exploit data-dependent anisotropic and directed noise in a forward diffusion process to capture meaningful graph representations.
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Integrating MQL5 with data processing packages (Part 2): Machine Learning and Predictive Analytics

Integrating MQL5 with data processing packages (Part 2): Machine Learning and Predictive Analytics

In our series on integrating MQL5 with data processing packages, we delve in to the powerful combination of machine learning and predictive analysis. We will explore how to seamlessly connect MQL5 with popular machine learning libraries, to enable sophisticated predictive models for financial markets.
How to Become a Participant of Automated Trading Championship 2008?
How to Become a Participant of Automated Trading Championship 2008?

How to Become a Participant of Automated Trading Championship 2008?

The main purpose of the Championship is to popularize automated trading and accumulate practical information in this field of knowledge. As the Organizer of the Championship, we are doing our best to provide a fair competition and suppress all attempts to “play booty”. It is this reasoning that sets the strict Rules of the Championship.
Poll: Traders’ Estimate of the Mobile Terminal
Poll: Traders’ Estimate of the Mobile Terminal

Poll: Traders’ Estimate of the Mobile Terminal

Unfortunately, there are no clear projections available at this moment about the future of the mobile trading. However, there are a lot of speculations surrounding this matter. In our attempt to resolve this ambiguity we decided to conduct a survey among traders to find out their opinion about our mobile terminals. Through the efforts of this survey, we have managed to established a clear picture of what our clients currently think about the product as well as their requests and wishes in future developments of our mobile terminals.
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Neural Networks in Trading: Hierarchical Vector Transformer (Final Part)

Neural Networks in Trading: Hierarchical Vector Transformer (Final Part)

We continue studying the Hierarchical Vector Transformer method. In this article, we will complete the construction of the model. We will also train and test it on real historical data.
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From Novice to Expert: Animated News Headline Using MQL5 (III) — Indicator Insights

From Novice to Expert: Animated News Headline Using MQL5 (III) — Indicator Insights

In this article, we’ll advance the News Headline EA by introducing a dedicated indicator insights lane—a compact, on-chart display of key technical signals generated from popular indicators such as RSI, MACD, Stochastic, and CCI. This approach eliminates the need for multiple indicator subwindows on the MetaTrader 5 terminal, keeping your workspace clean and efficient. By leveraging the MQL5 API to access indicator data in the background, we can process and visualize market insights in real-time using custom logic. Join us as we explore how to manipulate indicator data in MQL5 to create an intelligent and space-saving scrolling insights system, all within a single horizontal lane on your trading chart.
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Developing a multi-currency Expert Advisor (Part 11): Automating the optimization (first steps)

Developing a multi-currency Expert Advisor (Part 11): Automating the optimization (first steps)

To get a good EA, we need to select multiple good sets of parameters of trading strategy instances for it. This can be done manually by running optimization on different symbols and then selecting the best results. But it is better to delegate this work to the program and engage in more productive activities.
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MQL5 Wizard Techniques you should know (Part 58): Reinforcement Learning (DDPG) with Moving Average and Stochastic Oscillator Patterns

MQL5 Wizard Techniques you should know (Part 58): Reinforcement Learning (DDPG) with Moving Average and Stochastic Oscillator Patterns

Moving Average and Stochastic Oscillator are very common indicators whose collective patterns we explored in the prior article, via a supervised learning network, to see which “patterns-would-stick”. We take our analyses from that article, a step further by considering the effects' reinforcement learning, when used with this trained network, would have on performance. Readers should note our testing is over a very limited time window. Nonetheless, we continue to harness the minimal coding requirements afforded by the MQL5 wizard in showcasing this.
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Neural Networks in Trading: Superpoint Transformer (SPFormer)

Neural Networks in Trading: Superpoint Transformer (SPFormer)

In this article, we introduce a method for segmenting 3D objects based on Superpoint Transformer (SPFormer), which eliminates the need for intermediate data aggregation. This speeds up the segmentation process and improves the performance of the model.
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Population optimization algorithms: Resistance to getting stuck in local extrema (Part II)

Population optimization algorithms: Resistance to getting stuck in local extrema (Part II)

We continue our experiment that aims to examine the behavior of population optimization algorithms in the context of their ability to efficiently escape local minima when population diversity is low and reach global maxima. Research results are provided.
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Developing a Replay System (Part 47): Chart Trade Project (VI)

Developing a Replay System (Part 47): Chart Trade Project (VI)

Finally, our Chart Trade indicator starts interacting with the EA, allowing information to be transferred interactively. Therefore, in this article, we will improve the indicator, making it functional enough to be used together with any EA. This will allow us to access the Chart Trade indicator and work with it as if it were actually connected with an EA. But we will do it in a much more interesting way than before.
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Population optimization algorithms: Intelligent Water Drops (IWD) algorithm

Population optimization algorithms: Intelligent Water Drops (IWD) algorithm

The article considers an interesting algorithm derived from inanimate nature - intelligent water drops (IWD) simulating the process of river bed formation. The ideas of this algorithm made it possible to significantly improve the previous leader of the rating - SDS. As usual, the new leader (modified SDSm) can be found in the attachment.
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Developing an MQTT client for MetaTrader 5: a TDD approach — Final

Developing an MQTT client for MetaTrader 5: a TDD approach — Final

This article is the last part of a series describing our development steps of a native MQL5 client for the MQTT 5.0 protocol. Although the library is not production-ready yet, in this part, we will use our client to update a custom symbol with ticks (or rates) sourced from another broker. Please, see the bottom of this article for more information about the library's current status, what is missing for it to be fully compliant with the MQTT 5.0 protocol, a possible roadmap, and how to follow and contribute to its development.
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Population optimization algorithms: Simulated Isotropic Annealing (SIA) algorithm. Part II

Population optimization algorithms: Simulated Isotropic Annealing (SIA) algorithm. Part II

The first part was devoted to the well-known and popular algorithm - simulated annealing. We have thoroughly considered its pros and cons. The second part of the article is devoted to the radical transformation of the algorithm, which turns it into a new optimization algorithm - Simulated Isotropic Annealing (SIA).
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Category Theory in MQL5 (Part 21): Natural Transformations with LDA

Category Theory in MQL5 (Part 21): Natural Transformations with LDA

This article, the 21st in our series, continues with a look at Natural Transformations and how they can be implemented using linear discriminant analysis. We present applications of this in a signal class format, like in the previous article.